The sun was shining so I decided to get out in the garden. I cleared away the furniture from the deck and swept up the leaves, but still the deck was covered in dark green gunk and I know its slippery when wet, so I went the whole hog, got out the pressure washer and cleaned it up. Mainly this is a very satisfying process - the immense difference between before and after can be seen in the picture. There is a part of me though that feels guilty for using up scarce resources (water and electricity) when in only 5 times as long I could have done nearly as good a job with a stiff brush. But now I will be able to firm footedly cross the deck safely and without injury to take my kitchen compost bin down to the end of the garden.

Also visible in the picture is the wormery I collected after replying to a discussion on Bowes and Bounds. This hasn't really got going yet - maybe in the spring - but have you seen the price of worms - I am trying to save a few quid by transferring worms from the big compost bin to the wormery, rather than acquiring hundreds by mail order.